How can I shift this extra weight around my middle?
Many 40+ women experience unexplained weight gain — especially around the waist and hips — despite their best attempts to diet, exercise like crazy and eating next to nothing.
And suddenly, the usual weight loss tool box is empty.
“Meno-middle” is one of the most common complaints of perimenopausal women. Yet most women have been told that an extra 10–20 pounds is simply a rite of passage at this time of life and they should just accept their “middle-age spread.”
Nonsense.
There is no reason why you should settle for this. If you’re frustrated with weight loss, there are solutions…
There may be more going on than “more calories in than out”. That simplistic formula gets a little more complicated after forty.
Hormone imbalances can play a big role in your ability to lose weight (or not). Here are 3 things to consider when the numbers on the scales aren’t moving:
- You have an oestrogen to progesterone imbalance
Many women have an oestrogen dominance problem – when oestrogen is too high relative to low progesterone levels. This contributes to weight gain in the hips and thighs, water retention, sluggish metabolism and slow or stalled weight loss. And as you gain weight, your fat cells crank out more oestrogen….which is just what you don’t need!
What to do: Make sure your fiber intake is in the 30-40g per day range. Your body eliminates oestrogen in poo and fiber keeps things moving along!
- You have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol and low levels of the androgens DHEA and testosterone
High levels of cortisol – the “stress hormone” – are a big reason the human body tends to store fat, particularly in your middle. Chronic stress sends your body into hoarding mode, so that fat’s not going anywhere until stressors are minimized or eliminated. This is a survival response.
High cortisol also increases blood sugar and insulin levels, which increases fat storage. When it comes to weight gain, high stress hormones are robbers of available DHEA and testosterone, thus working against your goal of having a lean body. The more lean muscle mass you lose, the more it is replaced by F.A.T.
What to do: If you feel like you need to be on caffeine (tea as well as coffee has high levels of caffeine) try to drop your levels down by only drinking it every other drink. Try to alternate with fruit or herbal teas or just drink water.
- You are vitamin D deficient
Our vitamin D levels are much lower than they were 30 or so years ago. Why? We’re inside much more and when we’re outside, we’re soaked in sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Vitamin D acts like a hormone in our bodies; and it’s deficiency can be linked to weight gain, particularly of deep visceral fat (the fat around your organs), fatigue, food allergies and MS. A level below 50 ng/mL indicates deficiency. Ask your GP for a test to see how your levels are doing, then get a good quality Vitamin D3 supplement.
Weight loss is a side effect of good health. You have to get healthy before you can lose weight and keep it off. Once you establish baseline health, your body will naturally seek and maintain its ideal weight.
The FREE ALIVE SUMMER SCHOOL is now open for learning. This is an online 7 day program which is designed to educate 40+ women the ways of losing weight now they have reached this challenging time of there lives.
Sign up above to get your FREE 7 day Summer School.
